Postcode lottery ‘puts customers at the mercy of energy giants’

Households are being urged to consider changing energy supplier as they face 'postcode lottery'

A watchdog warned that as five of the Big Six providers have now raised gas and electricity tariffs – and with the last remaining one, British Gas, likely to follow suit – many customers are no longer getting a fair deal.

And they point out that hikes in price vary wildly depending on where you live.

A wealth of different deals mean that neighbours using the same amount of energy can see as much as £150 difference in their bills.

Price rises also vary hugely depending on where in the country you live, as the cost of sending energy to different areas varies.

People who live alone, many of whom are elderly and who use less energy, could also face larger proportional rises than families living in bigger homes.

This is because an increase in the standard charge covering bills and administration makes up a larger proportion of the lower user’s bill.

Such anomalies mean that pensioners in Devon could face bigger price hikes than families in Bristol.

Last night one energy consumer expert said householders should not be at the mercy of a postcode lottery, and should instead look into swapping provider to secure a much better deal.

Mark Todd, co-founder of energy price comparison site, energyhelpline, said: “Customers shouldn’t take these price rises lying down. Take a few minutes to compare and switch today. Move to a low cost fixed-rate tariff and you can beat these price rises.”

Simple tips that can help you save over £300 on your energy bills from British Gas Smart Energy Expert, Sarah Scrivener.

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Top tips to help you save money on your energy bills

Last week the Government hinted it might take action against the energy firms.

Mr Todd added: “The Government is talking tough on energy price rises and branding them as unacceptable.

“Whether this will turn into action, only time will tell. UK governments tend to talk tough on energy but do little. Policies in the past have tended to drive prices up, not down. They are complaining about a situation they have, in part, created.”

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Price rises will vary dramatically depending on where the the country you live

SSE recently became the latest of the Big Six energy providers – the others include British Gas, EDF Energy, npower, Eon and Scottish Power – to announce a huge 6.9 per cent price hike, adding £73 to a customer’s annual household costs.

It blamed the rise on the increasing cost of supplying electricity, and specifically higher costs associated with delivering Government programmes designed to upgrade “Britain’s ageing energy infrastructure”.

The increase starts on April 28.

Will Morris, SSE’s managing director for retail, said: “We deeply regret having to raise electricity prices. Without an increase we would have been supplying electricity to domestic customers at a loss.”

Npower raised its standard tariff electricity prices by 15 per cent from March 16 and gas prices by 4.8 per cent.

EDF Energy cut its gas prices by 5.2 per cent in January but its electricity prices rose by 8.4 per cent on March 1.

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Price rises will vary dramatically depending on where the the country you live

Eon will increase electricity prices by an average of 13.8 per cent and gas prices by 3.8 per cent on April 26.

British Gas announced it is to extend a price freeze for customers on its standard energy tariff until August.

Both the Government and the energy regulator have also weighed in to the debate with Theresa May’s spokesman saying she was “concerned” about soaring energy bills.

The Government’s energy regulator, Ofgem, has said it does not see “any case” for significant price increases where suppliers have bought energy in advance.